A Cypherpunk

anonymous remailer An anonymous remailer is a server that receives messages with embedded instructions on where to send them next, and that forwards them without revealing where they originally came from. There are cypherpunk anonymous remailers, mixmaster anony ...

, also known as a Type I remailer, is a type of

that receives messages encrypted with PGP or GPG, follows predetermined instructions to strip any identifying information, and forwards the messages to the desired recipient. Cypherpunk anonymous remailers are vulnerable to traffic analysis attacks, which take advantage of the predictable order in which messages are sent to recipients. This predictability can potentially reveal the identity of the sender. To address this weakness, Type II and Type III remailers were developed. Prior to the introduction of Mixmaster (Type II) remailers, users attempted to mitigate this issue by sending messages in batches or by using multiple remailers in sequence to further obscure the sender's identity. Mixmaster remailers were built upon the technology of Cypherpunk remailers, rendering the latter

obsolescent Obsolescence is the process of becoming antiquated, out of date, old-fashioned, no longer in general use, or no longer useful, or the condition of being in such a state. When used in a biological sense, it means imperfect or rudimentary when comp ...

. However, there are still websites and systems which rely on the general ideas of layered encryption and identity obfuscation behind Type I remailers.

History

The

Cypherpunk A cypherpunk is one who advocates the widespread use of strong cryptography and privacy-enhancing technologies as a means of effecting social and political change. The cypherpunk movement originated in the late 1980s and gained traction with th ...

movement emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s, consisting of activists, cryptographers, and computer scientists who believed in the use of

cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logy, -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of Adversary (cryptography), ...

as a means to safeguard

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

and resist government interference. They played a crucial role in the development of privacy technologies, including remailers.

Uses

While they are mostly considered obsolete due to the Mixmaster being the most common remailer type, Cypherpunk remailers are still applicable in niche applications for those who have no other accessible options. For example, sites that are censored or blocked by

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

s can use such remailers to circumvent this censorship. Cypherpunk remailers also require less setup and fewer resources to run, and can therefore be a suitable solution for those under time constraints or with few available assets.

Notes

* The additional headers used in this context are referred to as "pseudo-headers" because they are not included in the RFC 822 headers specification for email. * Messages sent to Cypherpunk remailers can be layered, meaning they pass through multiple Cypherpunk remailers to minimize the chances of identifying the sender. * Some Cypherpunk remailers also function as

s, enabling them to divide long Cypherpunk messages into Mixmaster packets and forward them to the next remailer if it supports Mixmaster functionality. * Many users of Cypherpunk remailers may choose to repeat steps 1–4 to add additional layers of protection to their messages, routing them through multiple remailers for enhanced privacy and security.

External links

About.com: Send Email Anonymously – Chaining Remailers with PGPFeraga.com: How to use a Type I Anonymous Remailer
(link not active 12 May 2010, se
archive version

References

{{Authority control Internet Protocol based network software Anonymity networks Routing Network architecture

History

Uses

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links

References